1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic steering device for vehicles for automatically parking the vehicle without relying upon a steering operation by the driver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic steering devices for vehicles are known in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 3-74256 and 4-55168, for example. These automatic steering devices for vehicles utilize an actuator of a well known electric power steering system, and are designed to automatically effect reverse parking or longitudinal parking by controlling the actuator based on a relationship between a traveling distance of the vehicle and a steering angle, which has been stored in advance.
According to the prior art, the driver operates the steering wheel while the automatic steering operation is being controlled and when it is judged that the steering torque has exceeded a predetermined reference steering torque, the automatic steering control operation is discontinued and a normal power steering control operation is assumed. When the automatic steering control operation is quickly changed to the mode of the power steering control operation, however, the steering reaction of the steering wheel suddenly decreases or increases causing the driver to feel an incompatibility.